


Oh, have my soul, it's destined, it's written in the sky

by lisachan



Series: Leoverse [293]
Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Spirits, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:08:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28944198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lisachan/pseuds/lisachan
Summary: Leo's always been a solitary kid, so much so that his parents are pretty worried about him. He tries not to mind, but loneliness is starting to weigh on him. And so, when he accidentally walks into a magic shop, he lets the owner convince him that he might have friends already, on the astral plane, even though he doesn't know that yet. She gives him a ring and tells him there's a spirit bound to it, she teaches him how to make contact with him and she sends him back home to try it out, promising him that, if he doesn't feel anything during the ritual, she will take the ring back and she will disappear from his life.The ring, though, doesn't disappoint.
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Series: Leoverse [293]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/30541





	Oh, have my soul, it's destined, it's written in the sky

**Author's Note:**

> **WARNING:** This story is an **AU** from the original 'verse. What happens in here has little to none correlation with what happens in Leonard Karofsky-Hummel VS The world or Broken Heart Syndrome. The characters involved are (mostly) the same, but situations and relationships between them may be completely different.
> 
> I don't have an opinion on spirit keeping except for the fact that I find it narratively interesting, so if you dabble with magic and you disapprove of the practice please remember that this is just fiction and no spirits were harmed while writing this story. 
> 
> Written for week #1 of episode #3 of Explorers @landedifandom.net, there was no prompt so I just took the chance to crosspost with the Maritombola challenge, using prompt #66 "Can I?" "No."

Leo doesn’t believe in God, or gods in general. He doesn’t believe in ghosts, or in destiny. He doesn’t believe in aliens – not in the way people usually believe in them, at least; he thinks there must be _someone_ out there, in the vastity of the universe, it would be pretty idiotic to believe otherwise considering how many things humanity still has to discover about what’s out there in terms of galaxies and their various planetary systems, but no, he doesn’t believe in tiny green or gray men, all eyes and stick fingers, abducting people in the middle of the night to impregnate them or conduct experiments on then. He figures if there really are advanced societies out there, smart enough to build transportation means that _could_ get them anywhere close to the Earth, they must be at least wise enough to know better than coming any closer to human beings.

So, no, Leo doesn’t believe in aliens. He doesn’t believe in promises, and he doesn’t believe that love is forever. He doesn’t believe in bad luck, nor in good luck, for that matter, he doesn’t believe that anyone can do anything even if they lack the talent for it.

He doesn’t believe in Santa Claus, never has, actually, and he doesn’t believe in the Tooth Fairy, or in the Easter Bunny, or the Sandman, or Jack Frost, for that matter. He doesn’t believe in fairy tales. He doesn’t believe that there must be something good at the bottom of the heart of everyone. He doesn’t believe otherwise even, though, he just thinks people are people, they’re at their best someday, at their worst another, and that’s just how people work. Not constant, but constantly changing variables that you can never, ever trust.

In one thing he believes, though, and that’s the existence of multiple universes. He believes it, not based upon scientific proof, or hypothesis, really. There’s no basis to his belief, except for the fact that be _must_ believe it.

He must believe there is someplace, somewhere, somehow, somewhen, where there’s a Leo that isn’t him but still is Leo, that’s not desperately alone.

*

Since he was a child, he always felt like some strange power hidden at the bottom of the universe had consciously and methodically deprived him of all potential friends he might’ve found along his way. Both at school and out of it, he’s never been interested in anyone. He always found people pretty boring, at best, obnoxious and bothersome at worst. He was never able to form durable relationships with any of his classmates, nor with older people, for that matter.

And so, at some point he has come to a conclusion. It’s not that he’s unable to make friends, it’s that all his friends _must be elsewhere_ , hidden in some other portion of reality, locked away from him. Perhaps they can’t make friends with anyone either. They’re the perfect match for him, and he’s not there for them, and so they must live their life like he lives his own, carelessly floating through his days, going through the motions. 

He sometimes wishes he could find a way to reach them. To open a portal that could lead him to that portion of reality that’s filled, overflowing with his friends. And they could be reunited, at last, and he’d be happy. He’d have all the company he needs.

It would be wonderful if there was some incantation, some magic spell he could use to open that door.

But unfortunately, Leo doesn’t believe in magic.

*

Which is why he’s baffled when, during one afternoon of random, aimless wandering, his feet take him inside Samantha’s Crazy Staff, a little magic shop on West Elm street, a place he’s passed by many times in his life, and that he has never felt the desire to explore before. Which is what he feels now, instead. And it might be because there are many tags on numerous objects in the window advertising incredible discounts, or it might be because he’s bored and particularly sad, today, and he doesn’t feel like going back home to his fathers looking anxiously and worriedly at him, wondering, without asking, when is he going to start going out with some friends like many of his classmates and all the children of their friends already do.

Or it might be because, for the first time since he’s passed this door, he notices there’s a little plaque underneath the name written in golden letters on the glass door. And “open your eyes to infinite possibilities” is what that plaque says, “come inside and find out how!”

So he walks in.

The place is, obviously, completely empty. He wasn’t expecting anything different, and so he relaxes, taking his time to look around.

The things the shop sells are not as weird and exotic as he thought they might be. There’s mostly charms, coming in all shapes, hanging from thin silver chains. There are also candles, incense sticks, and many, many books. An assortment of fairy statuettes decorate the shelves and tables, and there’s a whole section dedicated to teas and infuses – Leo chooses to steer clear of it, because the smell around there is intense and way more than he signed up for.

“How odd,” a female voice says, and as soon as Leo hears it he turns around and faces the stranger, trying not to sound too surprised by her sudden appearance. She’s tall and gorgeous, her dark skin, the color of Italian cappuccino, marked by geometric tattoos under her eyes, across the bridge of her nose, all along her hands and fingers. She’s wearing a large burgundy tunic, and wide ethnic pants in the same color underneath. Her blonde, wildly curly hair are pulled up in a messy bun, the majority of her curls escaping the rubber band fighting a war to keep them tied up, and tragically losing. 

“Uh… hi,” he says, clearing his voice, “What’s odd?”

“Normally, people who walk in here have no idea what they want,” she says with a smile, “But you do.”

“Um— I think there’s been a misunderstanding, I don’t— you must be confusing me with someone else.”

The woman looks at her with chestnut brown, wide, confused eyes. “That’s impossible. How would I be confusing you with anyone else? I have never seen you before.”

“… yeah, exactly,” Leo nods, casting a look at the door to check on its distance and evaluate if escape is possible at all, “And— I don’t want anything of what you’re selling. I just walked in to check out your merch. But— now that I’ve seen it, I know there’s nothing for me here, so— I’ll just go.”

“Nonsense,” the woman shakes her head and gently places a hand on his back, between his shoulder blades, nudging him towards a little round table in a corner, “You have come in here looking for something, and my job is to provide it for you.”

“No, wait,” Leo shakes his head, but there is something, in the confidence with which the woman is pushing him towards the table, that makes it impossible for him to stop her. He ends up sitting on one of the little wrought iron chairs around it, trying not to trip over the long, long tablecloths draped on it. “I’m sorry, I— I really don’t wanna buy anything.”

“Which is fine, as I am not here to sell you anything,” the woman smiles brightly, sitting on the chair opposite to the one he’s occupying. “My same is Sam. I am a spirit conjurer.”

It’s Leo’s turn, now, to open his eyes wide. “A what?”

“Spirit conjurer,” Sam chuckles, tilting her head a little. She’s wearing one extremely long earring on her left ear, that when she tilts her head follows the outline of her rounded face, shimmering in the warm, yellow light of the shop. “My job is to conjure spirits who would like to become part of a person’s life, and bind them to vessels that I then give to people interested in keeping those spirits and become spirit keepers. I usually sell those vessels, but…” she winks at him, “I do make exceptions, from time to time. When I believe it’s right.”

Leo sits on the chair, perfectly still, for more than a moment. He stares at the woman as though she had started to speak cat all of a sudden. Then he shakes his head and stands up. “No. Uh-hu. I should’ve known whoever ran this shop had to be mad, but this is more than I was ever prepared to see, and— I don’t want any part of it.” He turns around and starts heading towards the door, marching like a little soldier. “I’m sorry I wasted your time, I’ll go now.”

“But they were waiting for you, Leo,” she says, and Leo stops, freezing in the middle of the shop. He slowly turns around, staring at her in disbelief and, partially, in fear.

“How… how do you know my name?”

“They told me,” Sam answers with an apologetic smile, “While we waited for you. They’re the ones you dreamed about, dear, the ones you hoped for.” Her smile turns warmer. “You weren’t wrong when you thought they could all be hidden someplace else than where you are. Your friends. They _are_ someplace else. It’s just not an alternate reality. It is the astral plane.”

Leo swallows, at a loss of words. He doesn’t say anything, he just stands there, frozen on the spot, staring at her, trying to process the information she just gave him, pretending it isn’t enough to blow his mind. “…what,” he exhales, blinking slowly.

She chuckles, resting her shoulders against the back of the chair. “That got your attention, didn’t it?” she asks rhetorically. Then she extends her long legs underneath the table, tapping a foot of the empty chair in front of her with her ankle. “Come back here, teddy bear. Let me explain.”

Leo knows it would be best not to. This woman, whoever she is, whatever she wants, is creepy. She knows too much. His name, the stupid fantasies he uses to comfort himself from the harsh reality of not having been able to form one single valuable friendly relationship with anyone ever over the course of his whole lifetime. There can be nothing good for him in this place, and he can’t shake the thought that if he stops to listen to this woman right now she will end up convincing him of something he shouldn’t be convinced of, and he’s gonna regret it.

He still walks back to her and sits at the table.

“Okay,” he says, “But if I don’t like what you tell me, I’ll leave.”

“That goes without saying,” she agrees with a bright smile, “You’re free to go whenever you want.”

“Good,” Leo nods, trying to push back the anxiety. “Now, talk.”

“Straight to the point,” the conjurer says, the smile on her lips unwavering, “I like it. Alright.” She takes a couple seconds of silence, as though she was trying to gather her thoughts. Then she resumes talking. “Interacting with spirits is a practice as old as thought itself. As soon as humankind was able to focus on something, anything, other than what was strictly related to its own survival, as soon as we evolved from our primal ancestors into the first version of what we would’ve become in time, we immediately turned our gaze upon the spirits, trying to connect with them. In the beginning, we were searching for spirits within the natural phenomena occurring around us – fires, storms, volcanoes. But as we moved forward, and our thought evolved, we started recognizing other kinds of spirits. Sorcerers and magicians of all religions and ethnicities have been conjuring spirits for millennia, but binding them to vessels and sharing them with people that might want to keep them is a relatively new practice. Some consider it immoral, too, but there are rules to it, and if you stick to those rules, well,” she shrugs, “I don’t think there’s any harm done in binding spirits to objects when spirits _want_ to be bound.”

Leo doesn’t interrupt her through her whole speech, and as he listens to her he tries to understand if she’s mocking him. He tries to pick up on signs that might tell him that she’s just joking, trying to make him believe in this long enough to be able to burst laughing in his face calling him an idiot for it. 

But she doesn’t. She finishes speaking and she smiles and looks at him, confidently, calmly. She believes in this first. She believes in this even despite the fact that _he_ might not believe it.

Leo swallows, and then clears his throat. “How… how would you know if a spirit wants to be bound to something…?”

“Well, I take my time to talk with them extensively, before I proceed with the binding ritual,” she smiles, “Spirits can be extremely eloquent.”

“Like, how, knocking into walls once for no and twice for yes?”

“Oh, no!” the woman laughs, “Silly you. They speak. Full sentences. Some of them are pretty articulate. Some others have a more informal voice. It depends on their personality, much as it does for human beings.”

“And why… why would a spirit want to be bound to…” he turns around, taking in the shop and its shelves and tables full of knick-knacks and trinkets, “To these things? Pendants and rings and silly objects… why?”

“Because that’s a safe way they have to interact with human beings,” she explains with a smile, “The binding anchors the spirit to an object. The object then comes into possession of a human being, that holds onto it for safekeeping. That way, the spirit can be sure they will be protected by the human keeping them. That their tie with reality won’t disappear, as long as they’re with their keepers.”

Leo should know better than find this fascinating. He should find it silly, at best, and creepy at worst, but he doesn’t. Mesmerized by the absolute madness of the whole thing, he keeps listening, and he keeps inquiring. “What are these spirits?”

The woman shrugs. “It depends,” she says, “Some of them are gods or demigods. Supernatural beings of some kinds, like fairies, djinns, demons or angels. And some others are just souls of the departed. Ghosts, if you will, who chose to detach from the astral plane to come back into this plane, and experience life again… well, in some form. The only form that’s available to them.”

“And I’m supposed to believe this,” he says, confrontationally. He’s hoping to push this person into having some sort of reaction, anything that might make her snap, admit that it was all a joke, from the moment he walked past the shop’s door.

But she just smiles a little wider, scoffing a little laughter. “My dear, you’re not supposed to do anything. The entire legitimacy of the binding rituals and of the spirit keeping practice in general are founded upon free will. Spirits come to me during conjuring of their own volition, they choose to be bound to a vessel, they sometimes even choose the vessels itself. And they sure choose their human keeper, even though they always respect the human’s right to choose not to accept them. So…” she stands up and walks to one of the tables, fetching a small ring from a wide white quartz bowl. “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we start easy?” She walks closer to him, handing him the ring. It’s quite small, Leo doubts he could fit it in any of his fingers but the little one, maybe. It looks nice, though, all shiny and cold to the touch. “This ring is rhodium plated, and the stone on it is aquamarine. The spirit chose it personally. He’s an easy one to interact with, believe me, it won’t take much for him to manifest himself to you. But!” she hastens to say, raising her index finger to silence him when she sees he’s about to reply, “If you don’t feel anything, if this doesn’t work for you, you can take it back here and I will disappear from your life forever. It’ll be like you never even met me.” She smiles brightly. “Deal?”

No deal, he should say. He should make clear he’s not interested in dealing with her at all.

But the aquamarine stone seems to pulse for a second in the yellow light of the shop, and the ring seems to weigh more than it should as he cradles it on his palm.

He swallows, closing his hand in a fist around it. “I will need something to wear around my neck…” he says, “The ring won’t fit me.”

The conjurer chuckles, producing a thin leather cord seemingly out of nowhere. “That won’t be a problem,” she says.

Two minutes later, Leo’s walking out of the shop, the ring dangling off the cord, loosely wrapped around his neck. He wears it hidden underneath his clothes, the cold metal slowly getting warmer against his chest. And his ears start ringing.

*

He scurries upstairs as soon as he gets home. Part of his haste comes from not wanting to face his parents, should they be home – he can never really tell at first glance, the house is too big; whenever he hangs around too long on ground floor, he often ends up finding out they’re home the worst way, which is by suddenly meeting them in the middle of a hallway or in the kitchen, with their concerned eyes and uneasy smiles, and that question lingering unexpressed behind their tense facial features, why don’t you have any friends, dear? – but that’s not all. Part of it is just wanting to try the stupid ritual the conjurer told him to perform to come in contact with the spirit supposedly bound to the ring got from her.

Just thinking about it makes him feel like a dork. Getting a stupid ring for free pretending to have been convinced that it is inhabited by a spirit is one thing, truly believing that there is a spirit inhabiting the stupid ring is another matter entirely, though, and he hates himself for wanting to take a chance with it, for being even the slightest bit excited about trying for— really, for being desperate and lonely enough that he would believe and try _anything_ , including conjuring up a friend from a tacky 0.99$ jewel.

What else can he do now, though? He has the ring. He has the stupid supplies the conjurer gave him for free. Can’t hurt to try, he guesses. After all, even if, as it is entirely possible, nothing happens, no one will be here to witness it, no one will ever know.

So he sits on the floor, cross-legged. The conjurer told him to find a comfortable position, and he guesses this is gonna have to be it. He takes his t-shirt off, and keeps the necklace on. The ring is warm against his skin, and it feels like it’s vibrating, somehow, even if Leo knows it’s not possible.

He takes a white candle out of the paper bag marked with the shop’s brand, and places it on a plate on the floor, lighting it. Then he fetches the candies and cookies he bought, and places them all in another plate. The conjurer said the spirit bound to the ring is a glutton, that he would like sweet things as an offering. She said one must never forget to offer something when one’s trying to conjure up a spirit. It always helps to have something they might want, and this is supposedly to be it for the one who lives inside the vessel Leo’s wearing.

Now he’s supposed to keep his eyes closed and concentrate on his surroundings. The room is silent, and behind his eyelids he can see the little flame of the candle dance in a golden haze. The scent of melted wax suddenly fills the room – Leo finds it distracting, he tries not to think about it, tries not to open his eyes, even though he’s concerned that some wax might be spilling out of the plate, ruining the carpet on the floor.

Then something changes around him. There’s a quick gust of wind and the air turns warmer instantly, and then it changes smell. Melted wax disappears, changing into vanilla and a pinch of chocolate. A smell that makes him think of sweets, sweets like those he offered to the spirit on a plate.

“These are my favorite!” someone says, a sweet voice, almost childlike, a little pitchy in its excitement, “How did you know?”

Frightened, almost choking on his own heart as it jumps out of his ribcage and up his throat, Leo spreads his eyes wide open, focusing on the small figure of a boy, kneeling in front of him, reaching out to grab a cookie from the plate.

He doesn’t look like someone who could ever possibly exist in nature, not for real. He looks like a drawing out of a Japanese comic, all small and pale, with those full thighs and his rounded shoulders peeking out of the wide neck of the black sweater he’s wearing. It’s long enough to make his pink denim shorts look like panties, which immediately makes Leo blush.

He knows he should talk. He should really say something – anything. But the doll face of the boy takes his breath away, with its perfect oval shape and those full cherry red lips, eyes huge and as blue as the aquamarine stone on the ring curiously studying the chocolate chip cookie he’s holding in his hands before bringing it to his mouth to nibble on it.

“Mhn…” the boy mewls in delight, “Just as good as I remembered. This feels so nice…”

“Um…” Leo gasps a little, unable to fully catch his breath. He’s dying to touch the boy, just to see if he’s real or just a hallucination, but he can’t move, he’s petrified. “I’m… I’m glad you like them. I— I didn’t know what to get you.”

The boy turns to look at him. For a second, Leo drowns in his eyes. When he comes back up for air, he finds the boy slightly smirking at him. “Yes, you did,” he says.

“No,” Leo insists, shaking his head, “I swear. I had no idea. I just figured— everyone likes chocolate chip cookies, right?”

The boy chuckles, his whole expression changing from the slightly mischievous one of his smirk to the genuine, childish cheer of his giggle. “Good point,” he admits. Then he offers him half of his cookie. “Do you want a taste?”

“I know what chocolate chip cookies taste like.”

“But do you know what they taste like when you share them with a spirit?”

Leo keeps quiet for a moment. “How could I?” he asks, “I’ve never seen a spirit before.”

The boy giggles again. “My point exactly,” he says. And then he pushes the cookie towards him once more. Leo wonders for a moment if it would be smart to accept food from a spirit – perhaps there could be consequences he cannot even imagine to it – but, “Come on, don’t leave me hanging!” the boy says, chuckling softly, and Leo parts his lips, taking a bite of the cookie.

The wave of pleasure that crashes over him almost leaves him breathless. His tongue perceives tastes he never experienced before, and every sense in him seems to tingle. The cookie is sweeter than any other cookie he ever ate, and it doesn’t even taste like cookie at all. He moans, covering his mouth with a hand as though he feared that, if he let his lips part, some of that heavenly taste might escape. “What… what is this even…?”

The boy chuckles again, sliding on his knees against the floor, moving a little closer to him. “That’s my essence you just tasted. Do you like it?”

“Your essence…?”

“Mh-hm,” the boy nods as he smiles, “The mechanics of it are completely lost to me, Blaine tried to explain it to me over and over again but I swear the notion just can’t fit my head. But anyway—”

“Wait a second— who’s Blaine?”

“You’ll meet him,” the boy smiles, and then he pouts a little, “But don’t start thinking about him just yet. That’s what you always do. He always comes before me and I only get a part of you and for a very short time, but this time I come first and I want you all for me for a little while.”

Leo swallows down the cookie, his mind getting all foggy. This is complete and utter madness and now he has no idea how to escape this, if it is at all possible. “I… guess that can be arranged,” he says, not to disappoint the little guy already. He seems to expect a lot from him, to the point that he wants him _all to himself_. Leo knows he’s bound to disappoint him anyway, at some point, that’s what he does to people, if his parents are of any indication, but he can delay the moment for a little while, he hopes, just try and feel like something other than a failure for a little while, for a change. “You were saying…?”

“Um…” the boy looks up for a second, pensively tapping his index finger against his bottom lip. He looks mind-blowingly cute. “Ah! Right. The mechanics. I was about to tell you that I don’t know exactly how this whole thing works, but I was a person, before, somewhere else. Like… in a different reality, you might say. And then I died without ever knowing you. Blaine says that this is a big no no for our universe. I am _always_ meant to meet you, at some point, we’re always meant to be together in some form. But where I come from I died before that could happen, and that’s the same for all of us.”

“ _All_ of you?!”

“Yeah, I’m not the only one. Sam told you. You can’t trick me, I was listening in that shop,” the boy chuckles, tilting his head. “I was wondering if you were gonna take us all home, but Blaine knew you wouldn’t. He always knows. He even knew this time you’d come in. In the shop, I mean.”

“I… I never even noticed that shop before today.”

The boy’s smile softens a little. “Yeah, I know. It was getting real frustrating. Adam was about to throw a fit, hadn’t it been for Blaine telling him to be patient and believe he’d have probably left his vessel quite some time ago. I’m glad he didn’t, though, I like him, he’s super nice to me. Very protective.”

“Who’s Adam, now…?” Leo groans, covering his face with both hands.

The boy chuckles and comes even closer to him. Leo can feel him, the roundness of his shoulder pressed firmly against his own. He feels physical. He wonders how it’s possible – that boy was nothing up to a few minutes ago, he didn’t even exist. And now he’s here in the room with him, and he’s supposed to be a spirit, but he can eat and he can chuckle and he can be adorable and he can be touched. This is utterly confusing.

“I’m dropping all kind of names on you, aren’t I?” the boy speaks softly, now, inches from his ear, “Except mine. Sorry. I can get so excited I get ahead of myself. I’ve been waiting for this for a long, long time, Leo…” he sighs. His breath smells like sugar and strawberries. Leo wonders how he tastes, and then blushes. “My name’s Cody. It’s nice to meet you. Finally,” he adds in a short chuckle.

“… nice to meet you…” Leo swallows, trying to keep his eyes open and resist the urge to just shut them and lean into him, “I’m— I’m sorry you had to wait so long for me. Even though I swear I had no idea you were waiting at all. If I did, you wouldn’t have waited much, I assure you.”

Cody chuckles, his tiny noise curling a little. “Don’t worry. When Sam conjured me, she said you’d be ready, eventually, and Blaine was sure of it too. I trusted them, and they were right. So it all turned out for the best, I guess.”

“…right,” Leo nods. Things feel pretty good, right now, so he can’t really disagree on that. “And— can you tell me what’s supposed to happen now? I mean, I don’t have much experience on being with people, generally speaking. Spending time together etcetera. Can you tell me?”

“Oh,” Cody chuckles again, “Not that I’m _that_ experienced, believe me. I was never much of a people person, before I died.”

“Ah, shit— that’s right! You— You died. You told me, and I fucking ignored it… I’m so sorry about that.”

Cody blushes a little, though the pink hue on his cheeks speaks more of flattery than it speaks of embarrassment. “It’s fine…” he says, shrugging a little, “It’s not like I regret it much. My life wasn’t much good. I was always lonely, always awkward… and then I met a person and he— he was very bad for me,” he shakes his head, as though to kick the bad thoughts out of it, “I guess you could say dying was the best thing that happened to me,” he says in a short chuckle, “That’s how I found good people and friends to take care of me. And that’s how I found you,” he smiles, his eyes glistening softly.

It feels good, Leo must admit that. To know such a pretty boy, such a sweet, nice boy feels so happy just because he got to meet him. He never thought anyone would ever be so happy just to meet him.

He raises a hand and strokes the boy’s cheek, succumbing to the need to touch him, to make sure he really is real. He is. He feels soft to the touch, and his skin is warm, and the moment Leo touches him he seems to start purring softly, the quietest vibration Leo can feel underneath his fingertips. “Why was it so important to you to meet me…?”

“It is for all of us,” Cody explains with a smile, “Blaine says we all are born with a purpose, and our purpose is to be with you. He told me I’m supposed to be your emotional push. I don’t know what that means,” he chuckles, “But… I can tell you that back in my old world, before I died, I felt like I had no purpose at all, like my life had no meaning. And that changed when I was bound to that ring. When that happened, suddenly I had something to look forward to, something I had to do, and now that I’m here with you…” he looks down for a moment, blushing again, “I feel like I’m finally doing what I’m supposed to do, like I am where I’m supposed to be. And I’m happy. I’m— I’m just happy I found you.” He looks back up at him. “Aren’t you happy you found me?”

Those blue eyes turn his brain off for a moment, and all he is comes down to feeling. The warmth from this boy’s body, how soft he feels, the scent he brings to the air and the sound of his voice entice him to the point that he feels drawn to him. He leans into him, without even having the faintest idea of what to expect, but when the boy leans into him as well and their lips touch he suddenly knows for sure that this was supposed to happen all along.

He’s never kissed anyone before, but he knows how to kiss him. Cody parts his lips, and Leo sticks his tongue out and searches for his, he finds it and he plays with it, locking their lips together, and it feels more than just nice, it feels _right_ , it feels like something he was going mad waiting for. He wonders briefly if they were written in the stars, this boy and him, and even if he never believed in destiny before he feels like he might change his mind, right now, because he didn’t believe in spirits and yet here he is now, with a spirit, and he didn’t believe in love at first sight either, and yet here he is now, madly taken with this boy, and so what if he didn’t believe in destiny, then? Destiny’s clearly proving him wrong right now.

He feels Cody’s tiny hands land on his chest – they’re warm and his skin buzzes wherever Cody’s touching him – and then he feels them slowly make their way down his torso, towards his crotch. He should probably stop this, he’s ninety-nine percent sure he’s letting this run way much faster than it should, but he likes this, and so he moans, and this somehow seems to give Cody permission to close his fingers around the buckle of his pants, slowly undoing it.

That’s when he stops him, his hands closing in a nervous clutch around Cody’s. “Wait— what are you doing?”

Cody pants softly, his eyes two liquid blue slits. “I… I wanna make you feel good. Can I?”

“No,” Leo whines, shaking his head, “What— What is this?”

“I… suppose I wanna feel you?” Cody tries, his voice now close to a chirp, “I— I don’t know, I just… I like you, and I’ve waited for you, and you feel nice, and maybe you would feel good…”

“No, I—” Leo shakes his head again, “I would probably feel like a disaster, that’s what I would feel like. I’ve never—”

“I don’t believe that,” Cody looks up at him, speaking more confidently now, his head shaking a little, “I don’t believe you’d be bad just because you have no experience. Believe me, I’ve only had one boyfriend, and he was a _lot_ more experienced than me, and he was a disaster anyway, and not in the oh, you’re so goofy and sweet way, but in the God, you’re so cruel and can you just stop hurting me way.” He stops talking for a second, trying to calm down. Leo can almost feel the energy whirl in vortexes behind his irises. It’s powerful, more than he was expecting. But then Cody smiles, and that same energy stops creating chaos to create a warm blanket of pure affection all around them. “Sorry,” the boy whispers, “I didn’t want to get too intense so soon. I just— I don’t want you to feel, like, insecure or anything just because you never did some things. You could…” he blushes a little, “You could just think you didn’t do them because you were waiting for us.” And then he blushes some more. “Because you were waiting for me. If that could help you feel better.”

Leo doesn’t know about that. The only thing that helps him feel better right now, honestly, is that this boy is here, giving him attention, making him feel important. For the first time in forever he feels at the center of someone else’s world, and not as a cause for concern, but as a mean to feel good. Cody _wants_ to be with him. He wants _him_. And that’s a powerful notion, and a powerful feeling.

Slowly, he lets go of Cody’s hands. Finally free to move, his tiny, delicate fingers resume their work around his buckle. They undo it, and they push it aside. Soon enough, the button of his pants has been popped open, and the zipper has been pulled down. He breathes heavily as he feels Cody’s fingers travel inside his pants and against his underpants, feeling him, drawing his shape in invisible lines through the light cotton fabric of his briefs.

Leo swallows and straightens his legs on the floor, keeping them a little parted, to give Cody some space. He rests his shoulders against the wall behind himself and he closes his eyes, giving himself over to the feeling. Cody’s touch is delicate, but it is strong when it’s needed to be, and every movement of his fingers forces a deep moan straight out of Leo’s throat.

“Does it feel good…?” Cody asks softly.

Leo nods, his eyelashes fluttering as he fights a battle against his eyes to keep them closed. “I’ve never felt anything like this…” he moans.

He can sense the little laughter on Cody’s lips, it’s the sweetest sound. And then he grows concerned when he hears nothing for a while, the only thing reassuring him the constant presence of Cody’s touch against his skin. But that touch changes, and where it starts out as warm and dry it suddenly transforms into hot and wet, and that’s when Leo simply _has_ to open his eyes again. And he brings them down upon the figure of the boy crouching between his legs, suckling at the head of his cock, holding his erection up straight with his fingers. “Oh, God…” he whimpers desperately, his hand leaping to Cody’s head. He doesn’t even know what for, until he gets there, and he starts stroking his hair affectionately, pulling at his dark, silky locks every now and then. “Jesus, you’re good at it.”

Cody scoffs a little laughter that vibrates all around him, sending wild shivers up his spine. His lips part from his cock, and he licks them, and that’s the single sexiest thing Leo’s ever seen – the shameless way in which Cody seems to be enjoying the taste of his dick on his tongue. “Adam says I have a talent for it,” he giggles, “He’s always very polite to me, but when we mess around… he isn’t anymore. That’s when he says things like that to me.”

“Oh, I see…” Leo can’t help but chuckle, thinking these spirits that were supposedly destined to meet him must have a way more active sex life than he does. (Not that it would take much.) Perhaps it wasn’t them who were destined for him, perhaps it was him who was destined for them. “He’s your boyfriend?”

Cody shakes his head, resolutely. “I am only yours,” he says.

It’s the way he says it, Leo guesses, as though it was natural. It stirs something inside him, a dark wanting that makes him daring. He gets on his knees, moving closer to Cody, gently pushing him down on the carpeted floor. “Say it again,” he whispers against his lips.

Cody looks at him with confused eyes for a split second, but then he catches up with him with an ease that confirms once and for all, if Leo ever needed anything else at this point, that there’s something tying them together on a deeper level that just the physical one. Cody doesn’t just _react_ to him, he _responds_ to him, he echoes him. If Leo was music, Cody would be the vocals to their song. 

“I am only yours,” he repeats in a softer whisper.

And this time the words detonate inside Leo’s mind. He sees white for a moment, knowing intimately, with frightening certainty, that it is true. This boy belongs to him like no one else ever could, and he is his like he never knew he could be. He leans in and kisses him like flames kiss forests during fires, all-consumingly, ravishingly. He overwhelms him and Cody gasps and moans and purrs underneath him, parting his legs with easy abandon. Leo falls between them and starts rubbing against him following his pleasure instinctively, knowing that as long as Cody keeps moaning like that he doesn’t need to stop.

“Leo…” the boy calls him in a whiny, childish voice, “Leo, I want you. Do you want me?”

“Wanting you doesn’t even cover it…” he admits in a whisper. He’s starved for him, his body demands him, that’s more like it. These are years of deprivation, years of bottling himself and his sex drive up, erupting in an explosion of wanting that makes him feel like he’s about to burn up. “Take these off, sweets,” he speaks against Cody’s lips, pulling at his pants, “Get them off, let me see you.”

It is hard for Cody to move while Leo weighs on him, unable and unwilling to put any space between them, but he manages. He slips his hands between their bodies, and as he unbuttons and pulls his shorts down Leo tugs at his sweater, pulling it up, uncovering inch after inch of pale, soft, smooth skin to kiss and bite. He leaves all kinds of marks on him, teeth imprints and bruises, light scratches and wet lines, and Cody wiggles out of his shorts and suddenly the entire bottom half of his body is naked, and Leo’s cock twitches so hard it almost hurts.

He’s just perfect. All white and pink and seemingly untouched, even though, from his tales, Leo already gathered he isn’t. But he doesn’t care about that, there is no space for jealousy, right now. There’s only space for wanting.

He lies back down upon him, breathing heavily, shivering when his cock slides between Cody’s buttocks the moment the boy pulls his hips up to adjust underneath him. “I— I don’t wanna hurt you,” he gasps, trying to hold back.

Cody’s chuckle is the sweetest sound he ever heard. “You won’t,” he says, “Trust me.”

Leo closes his eyes and nods, adapting to Cody’s movements, encouraging him to take charge. Cody reaches down and wraps his tiny fingers around his shaft, guiding him against his own opening. Leo feels it, tight and smooth against the head of his cock, already wet with pre-come, and he has to give all that he has not to just thrust forward at the feeling. He waits for Cody to pull at his cock a little, and only then he moves, letting it slip slowly inside his body, inside his snug, comfortable warmth.

He exhales and gasps, unable to control the wave of pleasure coursing through his body. “Shit…” he whimpers, and Cody chuckles at his curse, wrapping his legs around his hips. “You feel… you feel amazing.”

Cody mewls, and that sound drips down Leo’s spine, making his cock twitch again inside of him. “You too,” he whispers, “Now let me feel how you move.”

And Leo does. He has no idea what he’s doing, or if he’s doing it right, but it feels damn good and, if the sounds Cody makes are of any indication, it must feel damn good for him too. This is enough for now, it must be enough.

As he moves through him, chasing pleasure inside him, thrusting faster and harder and deeper whenever Cody asks for it, Leo can only silently pray that this spirit doesn’t disappear as soon as this is over, because the mere thought of waking up tomorrow morning in a room where Cody is no more makes him feel devastated.

He reaches his climax suddenly, and perhaps too quickly. He tenses all over as his pleasure is tipped over and spills in hot shots inside Cody’s body – but if it is too soon Cody doesn’t show it. He moans louder and calls his name, and then his whole tiny body seems to be taken with such a wild shiver Leo for a moment fears he’s going to break into pieces, but he doesn’t. He holds up, and then he comes, a few thick, heavy white drops trickling down his shaft and pooling in his belly button.

“We… we just came together,” Leo can’t help saying, even though as soon as he realizes he said it he feels like wanting to dive into a pit and disappear in the center of the Earth. 

Cody chuckles lightheartedly, though, hugging him around his neck. “That’s the beauty of being a spirit,” he explains, “We’re naturally tuned in with whatever entity it is we’re sharing a connection with. Lots of simultaneous orgasms up in the astral plane, I can tell you that,” he winks.

Leo blinks, blushing even more. “Can we go there?” he asks, “I mean,” he clears his throat, “Could I see that?”

Cody laughs, kissing him on his lips. “You’ll need time and practice, it’s not easy for people like you to access it. It can be done, though, Sam told us. Baby steps, okay?”

Leo finds himself nodding, pretty eagerly. “Okay,” he agrees.

Fighting against embarrassment and awkwardness, even though Cody seems to feel nothing of either of them, Leo pulls out of him, cleanses himself and then stands awkwardly on his knees, wondering if he should offer a tissue to Cody too. The boy just chuckles, sitting up. “Nah, I don’t need that,” he says, and he turns around and nonchalantly spreads his buttocks for Leo to take a good look at him. “See? All nice and clean. We spirits are the best, we take close to no space in the house, we’re cleaner than pets and we rarely ever eat.” He stops for a moment and rethinks his last sentence. “Well, most of us don’t. I eat a lot. I like eating, especially cookies and chocolate. So that’s gonna be something you’ll have to budget for, I guess.”

Leo can’t stop himself – he laughs, leaning in to hug him again. “I’ll be happy to,” he says. He wonders if he should kiss him. He wants to kiss him.

Cody laughs. “Then do it!” he says, and Leo chuckles and does it.

“Stop reading my thoughts,” he mutters against his lips, in between a chuckle and another kiss, “It’s embarrassing.”

“Mmh, you’re gonna have to get used to it,” Cody warns him, rubbing the tip of his nose against his, “We’re all mind-readers. We don’t do it on purpose, that’s just how we communicate. It comes natural to us.”

“How does it work?”

“I’m not sure I can explain it,” Cody tilts his head like, Leo noticed, he always does when he’s thinking about something, “Blaine would be better than me at this, for sure.”

“I’m very curious to meet him,” Leo says with a short chuckle, but honestly, he’s mostly teasing, and his fishing for jealousy is rewarded when Cody pouts again.

“Soon enough, don’t get too anxious about it,” he says, and Leo laughs.

“Don’t worry,” he answers, “I don’t mind if it’s just the two of us forever.”

“Oh, no, that can’t be,” Cody immediately shakes his head, “We have to go get the others, and soon. They’re all waiting. But don’t expect to be able to see them all right away like you did with me. They’re shyer than I am.”

“What? Impossible,” Leo mocks him, “You’re the very picture of shyness.”

“How dare you!” Cody blushes vividly, but he’s laughing, “I will let you know that I was very, very shy, when I was alive!”

“Is that right?” Leo chuckles again, “So what was it that turned you the way you are now, death or me?”

“I’d say both,” he nods, “And stop teasing me, you’re mean.”

“I’m sorry,” Leo giggles, searching for another kiss, which Cody generously concedes. “So… what do we do now?”

“I go back into the ring, so you can carry me with you,” he smiles, “You get dressed and you go straight back to the shop. You ask for all your other vessels. Sam knows. She will be expecting you.”

“Mmh,” Leo grimaces a little, “Does this mean I’ll have to pay, this time?”

“Leo, the woman must pay the rent, don’t you think?”

Leo sighs, nodding slowly. “I guess,” he agrees. “Well, fine, then. I’ve got some money put aside. Never had to spend them on anyone, anyway.”

“Now’s the time,” Cody winks again, and then he leans in for one last kiss. “Let’s go.”

Forty minutes later, Leo’s walking out of Samantha’s Crazy Staff for the second time in one day. His pockets feel definitely lighter. But, as he carries around his two new vessels, in addition to Cody’s one, still hanging on its lace around his neck, his heart feels much lighter too.


End file.
